Packet Switched (PS) data services were introduced in the second generation of mobile networks. Since then, mobile PS data has become a main stream service used in almost all parts of the world.
The latest developments are that mobile broadband via High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) and smart-phones like iPhone and Android phones have become a success. This has increased the load on mobile networks to the extent that it has started to become an issue that needs to be solved.
At the same time the industry is starting to consider Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication using PS data services. M2M communication have the potential to increase to number of devices in mobile networks around the world from a few billion (˜3-4 billion) to tens of billions, maybe 50 billions. This would then further add to the problem with load in the mobile networks.
Some possible features of an M2M system may comprise a device or group of devices capable of replying to requests for data contained within those devices or capable of transmitting data contained within those devices autonomously. Further, a communication link to connect the device or group of devices to a computer server or another device may be provided. This can be a standard ethernet or phone line connection, or a WiFi and/or wireless connection. If using a wireless connection, typically a connected device platform may be comprised to manage the communications link such as e.g. service activations, provisioning, usage controls, fraud management, cost management, etc. Further a software agent, process, or interface by which the data can be analyzed, reported, and/or acted upon maybe provided.
Mobile systems are built with human usage in mind. Therefore the control plane in network elements like Radio Network Controller (RNC) and Base Station Controller (BSC) are optimized for human needs related to voice and data services. M2M communication has other needs and the issue is to mix these two categories of “users” without affecting performance for the system.
One problem is resource utilization. When a mobile terminal access the network i.e. goes from a battery saving state to an active state, it will allocate resources in the radio access network (RAN) and Core Network (CN). The time these resources are allocated are set with a human usage pattern in mind. One example may be that in a typical WCDMA network a user will be in active (Cell_DCH) and semi-active (Cell_FACH) states for ˜30 seconds after having performed any PS data transactions. Being in active/semi-active state will allow for faster access to the network and the reason for keeping the user in these states for ˜30 seconds is to get web-reading performance.
During the time a mobile terminal/M2M device allocates resources it will have a cost in RAN and CN and therefore it may affect the operation of other mobile terminals/M2M devices.
With a lot of M2M devices in an area, which may be the case in a densely populated area, the performance of other, human operated, terminals/devices may be affected.